Straightline

There was a UAW strike against Chrysler this week but the ink on the protest signs was still wet when it was settled. Fortunately, there was lots of vastly more interesting stuff going on around the auto blog block, so let's hit the road, shall we?

For starters, somebody needs to check the water at Mazda's design studio because it appears to have LSD in it, judging by this post from 4wheelsblog on the Motonari RX. What IS that thing?

Democratic staffers from the U.S. House of Representatives were advised to get immunized against diseases like Hepatitus A & B before attending NASCAR races at Talladega and Charlotte. Winding Road has a good summary on the rest of the story. And, being a native of the joint, I have an advisory for folks traveling to the nation's capitol - Get yourself immunized against Arrogance A and Parochialism B before coming here.

Who else but The Truth About Cars' Robert Farago would see in VW's R32 anything even remotely having to do with "ectomorphic accountants" in the GTI's genes? That's why he writes the most consistently entertaining reviews you will find anywhere on this planet.

Brandys at AskPatty.com is quite enthusiastic about Saturn's VUE hybrid. And Holly at The Driving Woman is even more enthusiastic about what Mercedes Benz is doing to fight breast cancer and other diseases that attack women's reproductive systems. Check out the special C350 the sales of which will produce significant contributions from the German automaker to
Oh no, Dorri at If It's Got An Engine ... is thinking about gas as if it were beer. Does this mean he needs to start attending AAA meetings?

Jalopnik is asking if you will have your new 997 GT3 RS in orange or green?

Ford's F-150 is the perennial best-selling vehicle in the world's largest single market, right? So does that make these video shots from Left Lane News of the 09 F-150 the most important auto news video of the week?

OnStar's Chet Huber is touting something new from his operation at GM's FYI Blog.

Just be thankful, very thankful, you aren't one Tom Friedman, owner of a column bearing that byline in The New York Times. Friedman just got his head and other parts of his journalistic anatomy handed to him on a plate by Peter DeLorenzo at AUTOEXTREMIST. FYI: I just got my copy of Peter's new book about Toyota and will be eagerly reading it in the days ahead.

What happens when a Bugatti Veyron lines up on the runway to race a jet fighter? Well, it appears from this video posted by Top Speed's Simona Alina that the  Veyron won the acceleration phase of the contest, but the jet definitely  has a superior vertical climb.

Guess that's it for this week, folks. See ya next time.